DER Kitchen

DER Kitchen is a commercial kitchen for rent on an hourly basis located in the 2500 block of Main Street. DER Kitchen provides bakers, food truck operators and caterers a SCDHEC approved base of operations without the need to build and equip a commercial kitchen.

In South Carolina, all mobile food operators (push cart, food trailers, and food trucks), bakers and caterers are required by the Department of Health and Environmental Control to have a commercial kitchen for a basis of operations.

If you prepare specialty foods pursuant to the SC Department of Agriculture, you too need an SCDEHAC approved kitchen. Currently, we have a variety of specialty products made at DER Kitchen.

DER KItchen is an SCDHEC approved/inspected commercial kitchen. The kitchen has its own Food Establishment permit.

The creation of DER Kitchen is an interesting story. David had been traveling and noticed the surge in popularity of various types of street food. He investigated the street food scene in Columbia, and he found that we only had hot dog stands. This was the inspiration for the creation of DER Tacos, a proposed taco cart for Main Street downtown Columbia.

During the year and a half that became locally labeled the "Taco Wars" (see more...), David began receiving inquiries from other food entrepreneurs about renting his kitchen when he was not preparing tacos. That's how the DER Kitchen idea was born.

After further investigation, DER learned that other states had commissary or incubator kitchens. Based on that research, DER planned an extensive commercial kitchen divided into three unique areas that can be rented individually, combined or entirely by one or more groups simultaneously.